Emergency crews closed Mount Hermon Road in Scotts Valley in both directions for more than an hour during rush hour on Thursday, July 16 after an accident caused a 30 foot water geyser and a temporary power outage.
A man driving south in a red Chevy Blazer jumped a curb and severed a fire hydrant before running into a woman and knocked down a telephone pole.
One victim was airlifted from Skypark.
Early reports from the scene indicated the man was caught in the intersection between Spring Lakes Drive and Mount Hermon Road when he stepped on the gas and careened up the sidewalk before running into a woman who was walking with her boyfriend.
“I heard a boom and saw her flying up in the air,” said Rebecca Arndt who turned to look out the window of her office at Plastic Surgery and Med Spa at the corner of Spring Lakes Drive.
The woman’s boyfriend was walking on the sidewalk with the victim on their way to Kentucky Fried Chicken, he said.
“(The driver) lost control and hit the fire hydrant then he jumped the curb and hit my girlfriend,” the man said tersely.
Scotts Valley police and firefighters responded to the scene, and turned traffic away from the accident in both directions while water district employees worked to shut off the water main.
